Jay Chou (周杰倫), 32, and his girlfriend Hannah Quinlivan (昆凌), who turned 18 in August, previously tried to keep their romance low profile — or as low profile as possible when one of them is the biggest male pop star in the Chinese-speaking world and the other a barely legal model.
When news first broke that the singer, actor, producer, director, restaurateur and all-round superhero stud to thousands of doting fans is dating Quinlivan, the press, which viewed the relationship as a shocking example of cradle snatching, got in a tizzy of moral indignation.
Though Chou refutes the rumors, the proof seems undeniable.
Photo: Taipei times
First, Next Magazine procured a few photographs of the pair together during a trip to Europe in August. Then last week Apple reported that Chou was seen, or “caught” as the daily described it, touring Japan with Quinlivan and his mother, who also accompanied them on their European jaunt.
Predictably, an army of paparazzi pounced on Chou at the airport on his return from Japan. When asked if his mother and Quinlivan were traveling with him, Chou replied, “Talk to me when you have photos.”
Unfazed by Chou’s response, the assembled media pack took a different tactic and asked him if his alleged sweetheart would appear in his new movie, Secret 2 (不能說的秘密2).
Avoiding the question, Chou sneered, “watch your step.” He later mocked the paparazzi and reporters on his microblog for “getting nothing at the airport.”
Chou should be careful taunting the gouzaidui (狗仔隊, pack of puppies), as the paparazzi are known, as his words could come back and bite him on the derriere.
Meanwhile, Quinlivan was subjected to a barrage of questions at a fashion show over the weekend about the trip to Japan. But she’s no dummy. Since the rumor of their relationship broke, she’s largely remained out of the spotlight and kept her mouth shut when asked about her relationship to Chou.
That didn’t stop the gossip, however, with the China Times reporting that she even brought God into her life to please Chou’s Bible-thumping mother.
And quoting a story in Hong Kong’s Banana Weekly (演藝週刊), the United Daily News reported on Wednesday that the two have registered for a marriage license in Japan or France. Chou’s agency refutes the story, saying Banana Weekly has a vivid imagination.
The Apple Daily helpfully prepared Chinese and Western horoscopes for Chou and Quinlivan. According to their Chinese horoscope, this year will be an amorous one for Chou (born in the year of the horse) and his girlfriend (year of the chicken) and odds are high that Quinlivan will get pregnant in December. But their Western horoscope says that Chou, a Capricorn, and Quinlivan, a Leo, aren’t sexually compatible and engage in lovemaking just two or three times a month. Despite the paucity of their times in the sack, however, the Apple Daily’s astrologer predicted that Quinlivan will be knocked up by February or March and will most likely have a boy.
Go figure.
In other celebrity news, it looks as though pop diva Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), better known as A-mei (阿妹), has a new admirer, or so says Chinese pop singer Na Ying (那英).
According to the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Na claims romance is brewing between A-mei, who recently broke up with basketball star Sam Ho (何守正), and veteran singer Harlem Yu (庾澄慶).
“I think Harlem likes A-mei,” Na said, adding that she hopes the two will get married.
But Na has made similar claims before. At a press conference in Taipei last year, she blurted out that A-mei had her sights on a mystery man from Beijing. Nothing ever came of the alleged romance.
From news of celebrities getting it on to a relationship fraying at the edges: The pathetic marriage drama of aging TV personality Frankie Kao (高凌風) and his much younger wife Chin Yu-chuang (金友莊) continues to unfold like a bad tragicomedy.
Pop Stop readers will recall that 61-year-old Kao announced he wanted a divorce after Chin, who is nearly two decades younger, was caught having an affair. Kao later changed his mind and, in a cringe-inducing public display of affection, presented his wayward wife with a Mercedes Benz in front of reporters and vowed to have plastic surgery to make himself more handsome.
The bright red Mercedes’ license plate starts with 5257, a homophone for “my love, my wife” (吾愛吾妻). With her husband sitting next to her, Chin told reporters that she wanted to have the license number changed.
“Everyone knows what it is now, it’s so awkward,” she lamented.
It turns out Chin was right to be worried. An Apple Daily reporter spotted the car with its now infamous license plate outside a convenience store. While her driver waited, Chin stood outside, forlornly smoking a cigarette before heading in to buy a rice ball, which she unwrapped and chomped down on before leaving the store. The only time she managed to crack a smile was when talking to the cashier while digging through her purse for change.
Kao may have changed his mind about divorcing his wife after news of Chin’s extramarital dalliance broke around Chinese Valentine’s Day (七夕), but he has reportedly been keeping a close eye on her. In addition to the driver, a female assistant has also been dispatched to accompany Chin and keep her in line.
Unfortunately, it seems like neither the driver nor the assistant have the power to stem the flow of Chin’s verbal diarrhea. During a recent TV appearance, she let slip that she had second thoughts about marrying Kao from the start and even considered an abortion when she found out she was pregnant with the couple’s daughter.
“So whenever I fight with Frankie Kao, I joke with my daughter, A-bao (阿寶), that it’s all her fault,” said Chin. It sounds like both parents will owe their child lots of luxury cars with cheesy license plates (and therapy) in a decade or so.
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